Traditional Group Sales for Broadway Shows accounts for about 9% of all Broadway sales, from what my statistical spies tell me.  And when I say “Traditional Group Sales,” I mean high school trips, organized bus tours, etc. who place their orders through traditional group sales agents, like this one.

We do a decent job of marketing to this 9%, thanks to those group sales agents, who develop their list of clients and act as a middle man for the high school teachers and tour operators who bring those gaggles of folks to the Great White Way.

What we don’t do a decent job of is marketing to the Non-Traditional Group Sales market.

What is the Non-Traditional Group Sales Market?

Anyone who has a birthday.  Or anyone who has a wedding.  A bar mitzvah.  An anniversary.  A class reunion.  A family reunion.

Basically, anyone and everyone, at least once a year.  And several times in their lifetime.

Another name for the NTGSM?

It’s the Party Market.  (Put your hands up, y’all!  Partaaaaay!)

The Party Market, thanks to our friends at Google, has stumbled upon us in recent years thanks to search.  But it’s time Broadway and Off-Broadway start to actively market to this demo, customizing the experience to what they want and need . . . and leaving the stumbling to after the party’s over.  🙂

I’d argue that the Traditional Group Sales Market may be close hitting a ceiling (in this country anyway).  But the Party Market isn’t even at eye level.

We’ve got a ways to grow.

But the PM isn’t like a Traditional Group.  And they’re not like a family of four either.  They require a different type of hand holding than a typical buyer.  And surprise, surprise, it’s harder (which is probably why Broadway has stayed away).

What do they want?

Well, one of the reasons that The Awesome 80s Prom is in its 9th year of partying like it’s 1989, is that we spend a lot of time catering to this market.  So, in tomorrow’s blog, I’ll give you some tips on how you can sell your show to the party people out there.

Because if you do it and do it well, you’ll be the one throwing the party.

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